Accessibility at Kiln
Kiln's web app is built on the Renkara design system. A scripted axe-core run covers eight of its views in light and dark at phone and desktop widths (32 scans, no violations), and the same run walks the keyboard on two pages and checks for sideways scrolling. Here is what the product supports today and what we have actually checked. We do not claim a WCAG conformance level for the product.
What Kiln supports today
Each line says what the product does, how we know, and where to look. “Not yet tested” means exactly that: we have not checked, and we do not claim it.
Partly supported
Keyboard operation
Every control is a native link, button, or form field, and a skip link comes first. In a scripted run, Tab walked 40 stops on the jobs list and 60 on the submit form, and every stop inside the page showed an outline or a ring in its computed style. We have not walked every flow with a keyboard alone.
Evidence
- captures/kiln-a11y.spec.ts in the fleet screenshot harness: a 40-stop Tab walk of the jobs list and a 60-stop walk of the submit form, 11/05/2026; no stop inside the page lacked an outline or box shadow (the walk's wrap-around to the browser's own controls is not counted)
- No one has walked every flow with a keyboard alone.
Partly supported
Screen reader landmarks and labels
axe-core, which checks names, labels, roles, and landmark structure, found no violation on eight views in light and dark at phone and desktop width. Kiln has not been tested with a screen reader.
Evidence
- captures/kiln-a11y.spec.ts runs axe-core 4.14.0 on eight views (jobs, a finished job, a running job, a failed job, queue, spend, submit, settings) in light and dark at 1440 and 375 pixels: 32 scans, no violations
- captures/kiln.spec.ts also runs axe-core on each captured view at 1440 pixels and records any serious or critical finding in axe-findings.jsonl; it recorded none
Supported
Contrast in light and dark
Text and controls are checked for contrast in both the light and dark themes, and the ember brand color is held to 4.5 to 1 on the card colors by a test in the app.
Evidence
- axe-core color-contrast rule on eight views in both themes and at both widths (captures/kiln-a11y.spec.ts): no violations
- frontend/src/__tests__/brand.test.ts in the Kiln repo recomputes the accent's contrast ratio from the stylesheet against white in the light theme and the dark card color in the dark theme
Not yet tested
Reduced motion
The design system's stylesheet shortens animation when a visitor asks for reduced motion. The scripted run found no running animation on the jobs list with or without the setting, so it could not tell the two apart, and the live indicator, the log, and the film player were not exercised.
Evidence
- captures/kiln-a11y.spec.ts counts running animations on the jobs list with and without the preference: 0 and 0
Not yet tested
Text resize and zoom
Resizing text to 200 percent has not been tested.
Partly supported
Mobile and touch
All eight views fit a 375 pixel and a 320 pixel wide screen with no sideways scrolling of the page. At 375 pixels the menu button and the theme button are 36 pixels wide and 44 tall, the skip link is hidden until it takes focus, and the checkboxes in settings are 24 pixels square.
Evidence
- captures/kiln-a11y.spec.ts: horizontal overflow of the page at 375 and 320 pixels on eight views, none (16 checks)
- The same scan counts interactive targets under 24 and 44 pixels and lists the smallest.
No WCAG conformance level is claimed for Kiln. Its checks are automated and scripted only; no one has audited it against WCAG or tested it with a screen reader or other assistive technology.
What does not work yet
- Kiln has not been tested with a screen reader or walked end to end with a keyboard alone.
- At desktop width many header and list links are shorter than 44 pixels, and 51 of the 67 interactive controls on the jobs list (every job's id link among them) are under 24 pixels tall.
- At phone width the menu and theme buttons are 36 pixels wide, and the checkboxes in settings are 24 pixels square.
- 200 percent text resize is not covered by any test.
How this site is built and checked
This site targets WCAG 2.2 level AA. That is a target we build and test toward, not a certification, and no one has audited it for conformance.
Structure
A skip link, labeled landmarks (header, navigation, main, footer), one h1 per page, and headings that do not skip levels.
Keyboard and focus
Links and buttons are native elements, so they work from the keyboard. Focus is drawn as a visible ring, and the menu closes with Escape.
Contrast
Text meets 4.5 to 1 in both the light and dark themes, checked against the stylesheet by the test suite.
Motion
Transitions and animation switch off when your system asks for reduced motion.
Small screens and zoom
Layouts hold at 375 pixels wide with no sideways scrolling, text resizes with the browser, and touch targets are at least 44 pixels.
Automated scan
Every page is scanned with axe-core at 375 and 1440 pixels in light and dark, and the checks fail on any serious or critical violation. Automated tools find only part of the problems, so this is a floor, not proof.
Images
Every product screenshot has a text description and comes in a light and a dark version that follows your theme.
Your theme choice
The theme follows your system setting until you pick one with the button in the header.
Statement last reviewed 11/05/2026.